Sergey Kovalev took part in a conference call to hype his March 29 fight in Atlantic City and on HBO against unknown Cedric Agnew, and an unexpected guest joined in the call, along with promoter Kathy Duva, matchmaker Jolene Mizzone, and Team Agnew (promoter Malcom Garrett and trainer Bill Benton).

Adonis Stevenson was present, as well.

OK, only in spirit, but the Canadian resident who seems to be on a collision course with Kovalev came up time and again during the 50 minute session on Thursday.

It was Kovalev himself, mostly, who talked about adding a title to his collection this year and it is Stevenson's he has his eyes set upon. No, the 30-year-old Kovalev didn't come off as someone who was looking past the vast underdog Agnew, but he and promoter Duva made clear that they desire Kovalev-Stevenson in a big way.

Duva called Kovalev “must see television,” and wisely counseled all to not look past Agnew, who was a good amateur who has battled hand woes and anonymity problems. She said that fights need to unfold on canvas, not paper, and has been doing this too long to assume that Kovalev steamrolls his foe, who lives in Chicago and is training in Houston.

“Don't miss it, don't be late, you never know what's going to happen,” she said. She gave ample credit for Agnew for seeking out this fight against a guy who makes Mizzone work that much harder, finding willing parties to test their chins against him.

Agnew came off as a serene gent, but livened up near the end of the call when he said he thought Kovalev is “pretty good, decent, nothing spectacular, actually I think he's ordinary.”I don't look at him as no terminator, he's human just like I am, and can be hurt,” he stated.

He said he knows he has the style to upset Kovalev.

The Stevenson name popped up, and Kovalev (23-0-1 with 21 KOs) was asked if he thinks the Canadian is scared of him. “Yes, I think so,” he said. “The public, the fans want this fight..this year will be this fight I'm sure.”

Promoter Duva smartly, for promotional purposes and in a useful refresher for all us know-it-alls reintroduced the concept of surprise, of the upset special, when she reminded, “There's no such thing as a sure thing in boxing.”

She and Mizzone complimented the 27-year-old Agnew (26-0 with 13 KOs; best win versus fading Yusaf Mack) for lobbying for this fight, with Mizzone stating that Team Agnew has been after it since at least November.

Kovalev trainer John David Jackson took note of that lobbying effort, and said that tells him Agnew is a bit more dangerous than those thinking he'll get smeared in 30 seconds might know.

I do expect Agnew to suffer the same fate, though, as most Kovalev foes, as he hasn't been in with anyone of that ilk. So, talk of Kovalev's down the line plans again popped up. What about Andre Ward, Duva was asked.

“Someday, not at 168,” she said.

And as for Stevenson being scared and playing duck duck goose with Kovalev, she took that head on: “I'm very confident we're going to get that fight made.”

COMMENTS

Carmine Cas :

He might be overlooking his opponent lol

The Shadow :

They keep building these boogey men feasting on a diet of jobbers. Come on, man...
This reminds me of those unknown loser guys you saw fighting the big stars on WWF in the early '80s and '90s. Remember those guys?
Make the star look awesome while getting KTFO in the process. (For reference, look up Barry O, Salvatore Bellomo, and the Brooklyn Brawler.)
I've never heard of Agnew in my life. Surely he's a jobber, an enhancement talent, a sacrificial lamb.
Still the questions remain: Will the boxing gods accept this sacrifice? Are they blowing smoke? If so, which way will the smoke blow?
Like Abel's sacrifice to YHWH, I think the smoke will blow RIGHT UP because it's so easy to blow smoke up the boxing public's a$$.
This is no more than a squash match.
Agnew may be undefeated but so was the immortal Peter McNeely until he ran into the rugged Stanley Williams (or something like that) who sported a scary 8-5 record at the time.
It's like a freakin' Ivan Drago complex.
The 160 BooGGGey Man is having an all-you-can-eat buffet right now, going to town on jabronis, guys coming off losses mixed in with the occasional lower-top 10 guy (Stevens and Macklin).
Remember Lucas Matthyse, GBP's boogeyman?
Had they fed him three unknown scrubs, instead of making the super fight with Danny G, the story would've been the violent explosion at the hands of the Machine -- never mind the opponents being total bums.
People were really starting to call Danny Garcia a ducker for no damn reason whatsoever, calling him Forest Gump and other nonsense.
He took the fight right away! Had they waited till this May or September of this year, ooooh weee, that fight would've been a PPV on its own!
Shieeeet, I'm 150 pounds of muscle, Steele, and sex appeal and I can probably go the distance with this Agnew.
Why didn't they dig up this guy? He will do better and it's a similar weight class. [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTmfFLCKErY (For the record, he was undefeated, too!)
Or at least try to lure some faded big names out instead of these unknowns.
Here's what I think: Kovalev will get EXPOSED in due time.
I see a 50-year-old Bernard Hopkins beating handily in a 116-112 affair. The shysters at Main Events know it, too. That is why they ducked the mandatory (!) -- don't forget that!
Should it happen, I hope it will be for the undisputed light heavyweight championship.
It probably won't get that far, though. The old Adonis "Pimp Daddy" Stevenson taxes that *** like he's the BIR with Kovalev starring as Michael Koncz.
Not impressed. Yawn!
Now go feast on that jobber Kovalev. And oh yeah, the first two letters of Kovalev may spell kayo. But in Danish, KO simply means cow.
Cow. Cash, beef, whatever.
That's all he is. He will be CASHED OUT and devoured by Hopkins the righteous Muslim who -- as we know -- prefers beef over pork.

brownsugar :

I can see how you would feel that way Shadow...and I can acknowlege some truth to what you say
However when Kovalev burst upon the scene in a major way...I was a witness to every precious second... Kovalev is the real deal...
but after laying waste to Cleverly...Campillo , and White...etc (and the list goes on) he's been ducked and avoided as much as GGG.
Now he has to find challengers from the graveyard to stay busy....
BHOP talked up a challenge knowing full well he could not commit and Stevenson still cannot utter his name without stuttering and begging off the subject. Shumenov finally acknowledge Kovalev after his most recent fight but has no plans to fight him anytime soon....
But thanks to the hard taskmasters at HBO... after being jobbed by Haman for a decade by putting on soft matches.. HBO is forcing the fights that fans want to see. The fights that will keep them neck and neck with Showtime for the forseable future. No more marinading....just toss em straight on the grill.
When Kovalev destroys Stevenson I sincerely hope you don't lose any bets.

amayseng :

I can see how you would feel that way Shadow...and I can acknowlege some truth to what you say
However when Kovalev burst upon the scene in a major way...I was a witness to every precious second... Kovalev is the real deal...
but after laying waste to Cleverly...Campillo , and White...etc (and the list goes on) he's been ducked and avoided as much as GGG.
Now he has to find challengers from the graveyard to stay busy....
BHOP talked up a challenge knowing full well he could not commit and Stevenson still cannot utter his name without stuttering and begging off the subject. Shumenov finally acknowledge Kovalev after his most recent fight but has no plans to fight him anytime soon....
But thanks to the hard taskmasters at HBO... after being jobbed by Haman for a decade by putting on soft matches.. HBO is forcing the fights that fans want to see. The fights that will keep them neck and neck with Showtime for the forseable future. No more marinading....just toss em straight on the grill.
When Kovalev destroys Stevenson I sincerely hope you don't lose any bets.

I concur.
Kovalev not only has real power, he has impeccable timing. very important.
When you are a killer its hard to get quality guys lining up to take a beating.

Spinach Chin :

Krusher And Superman are making the Cruiserweight division suddenly interesting!Bellew and Sillakh are both moving up up and AWAY!

brownsugar :

Superman has jumped ship... And applied for political asylum in the safety an splendir of the Al Haman camp.
Maybe now he can sleep better at night knowing that the odds of facing an HBO fighter named Sergey Kryptonite Kovalov just dropped from 100% to about 1%.
No harmful elements like Kryptonite exist on showtime to threaten the Carribian Killer. Bhop might embarrass Stevenson but he won't leave him concussed, ...lying broken on the canvas.

The Shadow :

Superman has jumped ship... And applied for political asylum in the safety an splendir of the Al Haman camp.
Maybe now he can sleep better at night knowing that the odds of facing an HBO fighter named Sergey Kryptonite Kovalov just dropped from 100% to about 1%.
No harmful elements like Kryptonite exist on showtime to threaten the Carribian Killer. Bhop might embarrass Stevenson but he won't leave him concussed, ...lying broken on the canvas.

Not so quick Sugar Man. This is actually a great move that could be the beginning of the end of the Cold War.
Stevenson and Kovalev can/will still fight. Haymon isn't the one who's banned from HBO. GBP is.
Remember, Haymon just did a big fight with HBO a few short months ago.
What it could mean, however, is that the Haymon camp is now making power moves to get more fighters back on HBO.
It could mean Quillin vs. GGG on HBO.
It could mean Matthyse vs. Provodnikov.
It could also mean the winner of Stevenson and Kovalev fighting the winner of Hopkins and Shumenov.
Should Stevenson forego Kovalev, who can blame him? He holds the fringe WBO title, Hopkins/Shumenov hold the WBA and IBF, ready to be unified with the WBC, ring and lineal titles. ALL THE MARBLES, BABY!
Then Chad Dawson, a recent Haymon signee, can square off with Kovalev.
Since Haymon CLEARLY has the best stable of all time, HBO can't keep ignoring that side forever. This has a built in excuse since Stevenson's committed to several fights for HBO.
This signing could actually be a good thing for a lot of people -- including fans!

brownsugar :

Not so quick Sugar Man. This is actually a great move that could be the beginning of the end of the Cold War.
Stevenson and Kovalev can/will still fight. Haymon isn't the one who's banned from HBO. GBP is.
Remember, Haymon just did a big fight with HBO a few short months ago.
What it could mean, however, is that the Haymon camp is now making power moves to get more fighters back on HBO.
It could mean Quillin vs. GGG on HBO.
It could mean Matthyse vs. Provodnikov.
It could also mean the winner of Stevenson and Kovalev fighting the winner of Hopkins and Shumenov.
Should Stevenson forego Kovalev, who can blame him? He holds the fringe WBO title, Hopkins/Shumenov hold the WBA and IBF, ready to be unified with the WBC, ring and lineal titles. ALL THE MARBLES, BABY!
Then Chad Dawson, a recent Haymon signee, can square off with Kovalev.
Since Haymon CLEARLY has the best stable of all time, HBO can't keep ignoring that side forever. This has a built in excuse since Stevenson's committed to several fights for HBO.
This signing could actually be a good thing for a lot of people -- including fans!

That's a huge leap of logic and
I'm not quite sold Shadow..although it all sounds good on the surface
...... Bob Arum can't live forever... not that I'm hoping for his death... But change is inevitable whenever the old man steps down. And the more level headed TD can lead TR forward without carrying the old baggage.
However it was Al Hayman and his whole stable who were initially sent packing when HBO overreacted to Canelo and Floyd "double dipping" on both sides of the fence.
HBO has no love for Hayman ........he was at the heart of HBO's issues with GB. Although in the world of boxing ...old grudges can transform into blossoming relationships.
I'm sure the strain of TR exhausting their in house matchups will eventually come into play but I'm referring specifically to Superman who I believe is making a conscious effort to avoid Kovalov.
A fight that was destined to happen this summer ...will in no way shape or form be seen by the American public at anytime in 2014... Stevenson would defect to Cuba before he squares of against Kovalev.
And Haman is too astute to toss away an important asset...Dawson is another story...he's disposable
Similar to the fiasco that became the Floyd vs Paq fight.
There is simply no justification for the good fights not getting made.
Stevenson will be remembered as the one who bailed on a good fight everyone wanted to see by taking flight to the warm and cozy king size bed of Al Haman.

amayseng :

What a shame Stevenson vs Kovalav could have been a big PPV event for sure.

deepwater2 :

Golden boy is gonna throw quillen to Danny Jacobs . Stevenson has had a great run. Kovalev has that power and mean streak so that's the super fight to be made. Wasn't Stevenson with thatvfrench Canadian promoter michaels? Oh well just make the fight

amayseng :

Stevenson is the man to beat at 175, winning impressively and knocking guys out..
So why sign with Hayman and now yet give another guy a cut?
OR did he bail on his present management?
I am just trying to figure out what is up.
The 175 division is strong with 3 great champions and an intriguing Shemnuev(sp)
lets make these f****** fights!

deepwater2 :

My trainer has the best kept secret at light heavy . Cuban Sullivan barrera . Just got signed by main events . Potential Kovalev matchup in summer .